ACAI
by XxdeadbumblebeesxX
Summary: A new team has arrived at Beacon, and is ready to kill some grimm. Read as OC team ACAI gets wrapped up in some crazy adventures (and maybe an evil plan or two) at Beacon academy! A fun, sometimes dramatic story written by me and a talented cowriter. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Team ACAI: Chapter 1

Isaac peered through the glass excitedly.

"Guys! Check out the size of the tower!"

"Isaac, c'mon, what could possibly be so exciting about a tow- wooooooaah."

Andrew went slack jaw at the sight of Beacon's massive clock tower. It was so high up the top was obscured by clouds.

"I think that's a bit bigger than the one at signal." AJ said, suddenly next to Isaac.

"We did it; we made it into Beacon Academy." Isaac said quietly.

AJ put his hands on both Andrew and Isaac.

"Yaaaayy! Good job team! Who's up for a group hug?"

"No!" Andrew and Isaac said in unison, AJ laughing as they both ducked from under his hands.

The room shook a little as they slowly descended towards Beacon. Isaac felt a little flutter in his stomach as they quickly lowered.

Isaac exclaimed "Guys, we're here! The ships landing!"

"Yup." Andrew said in a bored tone. Apparently the view wasn't exciting for long.

Isaac quickly realized something and turned to his other friend.

"AJ, have you seen Colin in a while?" Isaac asked him suddenly. AJ immediately frowned in concern.

"Actually…..no, I haven't. Have you?"

"No, that's why I asked you. Andrew, have you seen him?"

"No, but who cares anyway?"

"We're landing!"

"Whatever." Andrew said as he sat on the ground and set the playlist on his scroll to "shuffle."

As in answer to Isaac's earlier question, Colin immediately ran by, clutching his stomach. Running over to the nearest garbage can, Colin unloaded his lunch into it. The two other teens exploded into laughter, the tension in the room immediately dropping at the sight of their airsick teammate. Even Andrew looked up and started giggling so hard his earbuds fell out. Colin slowly staggered over to them, still clutching his now empty stomach.

"Y-You okay Colin?" Andrew asked him, his hand to his mouth, still barely holding back the laughter.

"I. HATE. FLYING." Colin grumbled back.

"We're almost there, you'll survive." Isaac said helpfully.

"That cheese pizza didn't taste so good coming up as it did going down, eh Colin?" AJ quipped; making the group chuckle even more, even Isaac.

"Shutup"

"Make me."

"I would if I was feeling better."

"Chill out you two." Isaac quickly said, trying to prevent a full out huntsman battle on a small airship. Speaking of which….

The room groaned slightly as the airship settled down on Beacon's airstrip. Isaac whirled around to look out the glass.

"We're here!"

Distracted, the four of them all stared through the glass again.

Suddenly, interrupting the moment, a blond teenage boy ran by, straight to the garbage can. The group couldn't believe their eyes as the boy also lost his lunch to the garbage can. The four stared at each other for a second before bursting into even harder laughter.

Through tears, Isaac worked out "Hey Colin, You and him would be great friends!"

After finishing up his "business," the boy noticed that they were talking about him. Embarrassed, the boy put a hand to his face and tried his best to walk away quickly as possible.

"Guys, quit laughing, I think we embarrassed him." AJ, said, smacking the three others. "Poor guy. That must suck."

"Hey, I barfed too!"

"You're different."

"Screw you."

AJ just ignored Colin's comment and rushed to catch up to "Vomit Boy."

He found the boy sitting on one of the ship's many couches, looking miserable.

"Uh, hey." AJ said not sure how to begin.

"Hey."

"Uh, sorry about laughing at you back there. That must've sucked. My name's AJ, what's yours?" He said, attempting to be friendly.

"My name's Jaune Arc."

"Pleased to meet you."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The airship doors opened as all the hunters on board spilled out onto the airstrip.

"All I'm saying is that airsickness is not as rare as most people would have you believe!" Jaune exclaimed in a frustrated tone.

"Look, I said I was sorry." AJ said, wanting to get back to his friends as fast as possible.

Seeing his friends several feet in front of him, AJ blurted out "It was nice meeting you Jaune, uh, good luck at Beacon!" and sprinted away to catch up.

"W-Wai-(sigh)" Making friends here is harder than Mom said it would be." Jaune sadly thought to himself. Suddenly, a large explosion to his right distracted his train of thought. Jaune squinted as he tried to make out what was happening through the thick smoke. A girl in a red cape was on the ground and a girl with white hair was standing above her, yelling angrily.

"Huh, maybe I should go help them. Might as well." Jaune said to himself somewhat more cheerily as he ran towards the two. It was better than standing around looking awkward like normal.

'Hello there!" AJ yelled as he ran up behind them.

"Where were you?" Isaac asked suspiously, not getting the attempted joke.

"Apologizing for us!"

"We were just laughing!" Colin said angrily.

"Guys, just forget it. We're at Beacon now; we have WAY more important things to focus on right now." Andrew said.

They were so busy arguing they had forgotten where they actually were. All four were suddenly caught up in the view once again. Students flowed past them, all heading towards one thing: the academy.

"Oh yeah! That Glynda person on the ship told us to head to a gathering hall or something." Isaac exclaimed, suddenly excited. "Does anyone know where that is?"

Nobody knew. They finally decided to just follow the general crowd when a white haired girl covered in soot stomped by, grumbling to herself about some red- caped brat. A butler carried several cases of dust behind her on a roller.

"What's HER deal?" Colin said, curiously.

"She's probably a Schnee," Andrew replied, "You can tell by the insignia." He said, pointing to the snowflake shaped symbol engraved on the cases.

Colin snickered. "I guess Schnee really needs to calm down."

"God, Colin, that wasn't even funny." Andrew said, giving Colin the "really?" look.

"Actually, it WAS kinda clever."

The four whirled around to see who just talked. Standing before them was probably the hottest blond they had ever seen.

"The name's Yang Xiou Long, but you can just call me Yang."

"Oh, uh, I'm Isaac."

"I'm AJ."

"Andrew."

"NICE OUTFIT!"

All eyes stared at Colin, whose face had turned red like roses. Speaking of which….

"Yang! Finally, I've found you!" The girl in the red caped yelled, tackling yang in a hug. "Don't leave me like that ever again!"

"This is my sister, Ruby. Ruby, get off of me!" Yang said as she pushed her away. Colin internally thanked Ruby for distracting everyone from his slip up.

Surprisingly, no had noticed Jaune, who had been walking around with Ruby up until that point.

"Uh, hi everyone, I'm Jaune." He said.

"Oh, uh, hey Jaune." AJ said, feeling a little guilty for leaving him back at the ship.

"Hey AJ."

For a moment, everybody just stood there, not knowing what to say. The awkwardness was so thick you could cut it with a giant red scythe.

Ruby said "So…you guys are.."

Everybody introduced themselves again, more eagerly this time.

"So, I guess we'll see you later. Good luck on the initiation! C'mon Ruby!" Yang said leaving, not before turning around and winking right at Colin. Colin gulped, his face blushing even harder than before. The sisters ran off happily, leaving the other five boys to just stare.

"Wow Colin, I guess being an idiot your whole life DOES payoff." Andrew mused, before getting punched in the ribs by the embarrassed younger brother.

Well, uh, it was nice meeting you guys." Jaune quickly said. The boy quickly ran off in the direction the two girls headed.

After a couple of seconds, Isaac exclaimed "Okay, seriously though, where are we supposed to go?!"

"Wait, what did she mean by "initiation."?" AJ asked, ignoring Isaac.

"I think for every year, there's an initiation challenge to get in." Andrew answered.

"Wait, after all we've done to get here, we have to go through ANOTHER test?!"

"Uh,yeah."

"That's stupid."

"I know, Colin, but we have to."

Turning to them, Isaac said "C'mon guys! After all we've been through: Signal, years of training, all those entry tests, how hard could it be? I'm not expecting anything we can't handle."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Thanks for the motivation Isaac."

Fifteen minutes of searching later, they finally found the gathering place. It was a big open room, with windows high up near the roof, and a stage at the end facing the doors. There were no chairs, so the four found a place to stand with reasonable leg room.

"Huh, no sight of Yang, Ruby, or Jaune." Isaac said, making binoculars with his hands.

"It IS really crowded in here." Andrew replied.

Any further conversation was stifled by the sight of Ozpin himself coming up to the stage. Slowly, he addressed the students.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin then left the stage, leaving the students to process what he just said.

"Well that was depressing." Isaac deadpanned.

"Let's leave." Andrew said.

For the rest of the day the group walked around the school, exploring and getting to know the place better. For the most part, they were enjoying Beacon. That night, all the first year students slept in a gym. Sleeping bags dotted the floor as everyone slowly settled down to rest. Their sleeping bags making a big square on the carpeted ground, the group chatted awhile before settling down. Isaac thought it be hard to rest because of how nervous he was. Surprisingly though, he fell asleep easily, his last thoughts wondering what lay in store for them.

The next day

Standing on a giant cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, Isaac mumbled to himself, "I was not expecting this."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The four initiates stood on the edge of the cliff, along with all the other students. Curiously, they were all standing on square platforms. Isaac was at the end, with Andrew on his left. Next came Jaune, then Colin, AJ, Ruby, and Yang. Isaac looked down. That's when it hit him: the platforms were SPRINGBOARDS. So, that's how they were making it down. Well, at least they all had their landing strategies.

"Actually, I was kinda expecting it to be harder than this." Andrew said, overhearing Isaac's earlier mumbling.

"I didn't say it was hard, I just said I wasn't expecting-"

"Guys, shut up! Ozpin's gonna talk!" AJ hissed at them.

Ozpin walked up to the podium (on a cliff?), cleared his throat and began to speak.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda joined in. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will you be given teammates….today.

Isaac could hear an audible groan from Ruby.

Ozpin added "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"What?!" Ruby squeaked.

Isaac held back a snicker.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path….or you will die."

Jaune gulped loudly. Colin turned to him and said "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks. By the way, what's a landing strategy?"

Wait what?!

Ozpin continued, "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately Are there any questions?"

Jaune lifted his hand. "Yeah, uh, sir?"

"Good! Now, take your positions."

Jaune then tried to ask the professor something, but Isaac stopped paying attention. Everybody got into their launch positions. Andrew grinned at Isaac and stuck in his earbuds. Laughing back, Isaac got into a crouching position, his right hand on the blade sheathed on his back. AJ and Colin grinned at each other confidently and got into similar positions. Students on the other end of the massive line were already beginning to get shot into the air, one after the other, left to right. Yang, Ruby, Jaune, Colin, AJ, and, finally…. WOOOOHOOOO! Isaac soared through the air relishing in the feeling of flyin-Oh crap! Suddenly, He remembered. Jaune didn't know how to land! Midair he twirled himself around looking for Jaune, but he was nowhere to be seen. Isaac panicked for a second, but then calmed once he realized Jaune's aura would probably protect his fall. That is, if he HAD activated his aura yet.

Deciding it was time to land; Isaac pulled out his broadsword and clicked a button. Instantly the blade split apart, revealing a small barrel on the top of the hilt. Isaac pointed the sword skyward and pressed the button again, this time firing the hidden gun. The recoil from the blast propelling Isaac down into the treetops. He twisted his body around and pointed the sword downwards, this time firing right before he hit the ground. Using the recoil, Isaac bounced along the forest floor like a bunny faunus on crack. He finally twisted around backwards, ramming his sword into the dirt, causing him to slide another several hundred feet before finally grinding to a stop. Isaac pulled out his sword, reconnected the blade, and wiped the dirt off on his leg.

"Nice landing."

Isaac whirled around. "Hey Andrew."

Andrew still had his earbuds on.

"How do you even hear me through those?"

"I just tune it out."

"But it still is really loud."

"We're in a giant forest full of grimm, on a mission to get relics from some abandoned temple, and this is the thing that's bothering you?"

"Good point. Any idea where the temple is?"

"Not a clue." Andrew said grinning.

"I think we should just keep walking away from the cliff. We're bound to find it eventually."

"Sure."

"Sooooo, we're teammates now?"

"Were we ever not?"

"Once again, good point."

"Let's just go find the temple."

Meanwhile, several hundred feet away, Colin and AJ had already met up. Glaive in hand, Colin said "Can't wait to shred some grimm! AJ, you need any more dust? I got PLENTY. "

"No Colin, I'm good." AJ replied as he brushed away a branch. He was guessing that the direction they were heading was the right one, but, he couldn't tell for sure. Colin wasn't helping him navigate either. They had been walking a VERY long time. Trying to motivate himself, AJ tried to focus on the positive. At least the air is nice. At least the landing hadn't killed them! At least they had MADE it to Beacon. At least they hadn't been attacked by grimm yet! Speaking of which…

A loud angry growl made AJ skid to a stop, causing Colin to bump into his back. AJ instantly pulled out the large rifle hanging on his back as a pair of glowing red eyes of an ursa grimm appeared.

"Think we can take him?"

"AJ are you kidding?! Of course we can!"

Five more pairs appeared, causing Colin's breath to hitch.

"Actually scratch that. RUUUUUUUNN!"

Back to the other two, Andrew and Isaac were lost as well. Wandering seemingly aimlessly through the massive trees, Isaac was starting to get annoyed.

"Ugh, This is getting us nowhere, I thought you got all "A"s in those navigation classes at Signal! Shouldn't we at least have found a path or something by now?"

"Look I'm a little rusty, okay?!" Andrew snapped back, annoyed as well. They had been wandering for well over an hour, and hadn't seen anyone or anything that might show them they were getting close to the temple.

"How are we supposed to graduate from Beacon, if we get lost in these woods forever?!"

"How are you ever going to shut your stupid little-"

"SHUTUP AND RUN!"

Colin burst through the foliage, screaming while waving his glaive over his head. AJ emerged a couple seconds later, running backwards and firing his rifle at the ursai herd right behind them. Colin sprinted right into Isaac, knocking him to the ground.

"Colin, what the he-OH GOD."

Andrew grabbed Isaac's hand and pulled him up, deciding to follow Colin's sage advice. AJ, seeing he was falling behind, turned himself around, swung himself onto a branch and kept running, jumping from branch to branch, still firing at the grimm. The other three running as fast as their legs would carry them, Isaac yelled at Colin "Hey! What happened to AJ!"

In answer to his question, AJ jumped down in front of them and yelled "Keep Running!"

Isaac grabbed a cartridge of red dust from his pocket and jammed it into the end of his sword. splitting his sword and pointing it at the grimm, he fired several rounds of bright red bolts, exploding on contact and taking out multiple ursai.

"If we keep running, I could eventually pick them all off!"

"We can't run that long!"

Suddenly, the four burst out into a clearing, the of sight what was happening in the middle, stopped them in the middle of their tracks. In the center, several kids, including Yang, Ruby, and Jaune, were fighting a massive death stalker. A lone nevermore flew above them, seeking out prey.

"Hey everyone, we brought company!" Isaac yelled out, finding the situation almost humorous.

Colin couldn't help himself. "I guess the situation's kinda, GRIMM, huh Isaac?"

Even though they were sprinting for their life, the rest of the group still groaned at Colin's pun.

"Colin, if we survive this, I'm gonna slap you."

"Worth it."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Sir, the final two pairings have been found. Isaac Helt with Andrew Flammini, and Colin Barr with Aiden Barr."

"The four from Signal?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Glynda. You may head back to the academy now. I will continue to keep watch of the students from here."

"Thank you, sir. But, are you sure we shouldn't intervene? We could deploy troops into the forest within min-"

"Glynda, They can handle themselves, I'm sure of it."

"(sigh), yes sir."

Glynda passed the scroll to Ozpin and headed back. He looked down at the tablet in his hands, a live camera feed showing exactly what was happening. Ozpin frowned. This WAS turning out to be an interesting initiation.

Ruby was the first of the other group to process what was happening.

"Isaac, AJ, Andrew, Colin! Throw yourselves on the ground! Jaune, you guys can handle the death stalker, right? Great! Yang, Blake, Weiss, take out the ursai! "

The four boys threw themselves to the ground as bullets whizzed above their heads, reducing the herd to dust within seconds. They slowly stood up, thankful that they hadn't landed on any rocks. The four quickly ran to the others. Ruby, turning to her right, found the death stalker dead as well. The stinger was embedded deep in its head, with Nora standing on top, grinning like a maniac.

"Oh, great job guys!" she called over to them.

"PANCAKE POWER!"

"Nora, please."

"Awww Ren, you're so cute when your embarrassed!"

"Everyone," Phyrra pointed out, "What are we going to do about that nevermore?"

Everyone suddenly realized the danger they were in as the giant grimm began to circle back, gaining speed quickly.

"There's a cliff not too far from here!" Ruby yelled at them. "There's an abandoned tower there. If we can make it, we can kill it easily!"

"Running? I can get behind that." Jaune replied.

"Wait, guys, we never got our relics!" Isaac panicked. They had been so busy they had totally forgotten about their main objective!

"Isaac, it's okay, we can handle it. You guys get the relics." Ruby said, assuring Isaac. She then pointed at a path on her left and said "That way leads to the temple. You should be able to find it easily."

"Fine."

The three future teams split up, eight people heading to the cliff, four heading back to the temple. Ruby was right, after several minutes of sprinting, they found the temple. It was a flat stone semicircle, columns lining the edges. In the middle were several large chess pieces raised on stone podiums. Naturally, several were already missing.

Andrew thought out loud, "The selection of teams probably has something to do with these."

"Right," Isaac said, agreeing. "Me and Andrew will take the white knight piece."

"Smart." AJ said, taking both knights off the podium and tossing one to Isaac. Both put the pieces in their pockets for safe keeping.

"We should head back to cliff. They're probably gonna need help with that nevermore." Colin suggested, referring to Ruby and Jaune. Speaking of which….

"Son of a bi-" Jaune cried out, flying right by them and smashing into a column. The four boys turned around as the other seven burst through the trees, sprinting as fast as they could with the nevermore grimm soaring above, shooting razor sharp feathers down at them like throwing knives.

"Long story!" Yang yelled as she flew past them, diving into the underbrush.

"Jaune!" Phyrrha cried out, seeing the unconscious boy lying on the stone. She quickly ran by, grabbing his hood with one swift motion, pulling him along with her. The other six ran by as well, but the four boys just stood there, staring fearlessly at the giant grimm.

"Hey Andrew."

"What?"

"Think you can take 'im?"

"Maybe."

The grimm, seeing the four, began to dive-bomb the temple.

Isaac motioned to AJ, who immediately understood what he meant and jumped backwards, his hands landing on the dirt. Andrew instantly flicked out his twin knives and did a backflip onto AJ's feet. Snapping his feet upwards, AJ shot Andrew into the sky, who quickly spun the knives in his hands, morphing them into pistols. Shooting upwards at the approaching nevermore for several seconds, Andrew quickly spun himself around, his head facing the ground. Transforming his pistols into knives, he connected with the nevermore's back, ripping two long jagged lines of opened flesh before twisting around again and going into a freefall. Isaac watched in awe as the screeching grimm soared past them, crashing into the trees a couple seconds later, dead on impact. That had worked a lot better than he expected. Andrew emerged from the tree line a couple seconds later, panting like a dog.

"Du-hude, that was epic!" Colin yelled, running up and hitting Andrew in the back. "You HAVE to teach me how to do that!"

"Yes. Thank you. Colin." He replied, still catching his breath.

"That WAS very cool." AJ said, walking up and prying Colin off him. Colin suddenly turned to Isaac, asking "So… what do we do now? Head back? I have NO idea where we are."

"Let's go find the others."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I don't even know what the heck is going on anymore!" said Collin as they sprinted away from the pack of Grimm that had ambushed them.

"I've got this." AJ said in a calm tone which put Collin at ease. Even in crisis AJ stayed cool and collected. He was the oldest so that makes sense. Isaac spun around and shot a cartridge of dust at the pack, taking out several beowolves.

"Why don't we just stop running and fight?" exclaimed Andrew once they entered a clearing.

"As you wish" Isaac said in the sarcastic way everyone back at signal knew him. Everybody stopped in the middle formed a circle, protecting all sides. The grimm, close behind, quickly surrounded them and began to look for openings. Isaac struck the nearest beowolf with his broadsword, stunning it, and then proceeding to cut off its head. Decapitation was his favorite way to kill Grimm. AJ hit another one of the beasts with the butt of his rifle. After doing so he spun his rifle around and shot it in the chest, turning it into a pile of rose petals.

"Why rose petals?" Isaac said as he parried a claw. "I mean of all things these dark creatures could turn into, it HAD to be rose petals."

"I don't know, but at least we don't have to clean up blood and guts off of our outfits after we slaughter these things." said Andrew as he stabbed his knives into a beowolf. Then while they were still stuck in it he turned them into pistols and shot into its lungs.

"Well that was the last one" he said as he turned over to the rest of the group. After the short battle, the place looked like a gothic flower shop that was hit by a tornado.

"We'd better get back" AJ suggested.

"I hope the others got out alright." Collin stated with a concerned look about him.

"Of course they did, we were the ones that killed that nevermore!" Isaac shot back.

"Actually, I was the one that killed it, not you guys."

"We'll find out soon enough" AJ said.

On the way back to the academy they saw Jaune, Yang, Ruby and the Schnee girl with the same people that had killed the death stalker.

Isaac suddenly choked on his spit. "Do you know who that is?!" He said excitedly.

"Oh course dummy. That's Pyrrha Nikos, she's only the BEST Mistral Junior Tournament winner in history," Said Andrew.

"Three time consecutive champion!" Isaac added.

"Well, lets go say hi then, for Pete's sake!" Collin said. So the group all joined together to introduce each other.

"Hi I'm Nora!" The girl with the hammer yelled energetically. "And this is Ren," She said. "Yeah he doesn't talk much but I do enough talking to make up for it not that I drag on and babble or anything like that but I do say what's on my mind when I feel like it which is most of the time. So, uh, yeah, this is Ren."

"Hey" Ren said in a sort of depressed tone.

"Hi I'm AJ".

"I'm Blake, nice to uh, meet you."

"Are you one of those rich brats?" Colin asked bluntly to the girl dressed in white.

"No! I'm Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee family dust company. Who might you be?!"

"I'm Collin Barr, of the, uh, Barr family."

"Oh." said Weiss in a kind of disgusted tone.

"And you must be Pyrrha Nikos." said Andrew. "You are such an incredible huntress."

"Why thank you!" said Phyrrha with a twinkle in her eye.

"Hi, I'm Isaac and you are such an inspiration to me! You're basically the reason I wanted to become a huntsman." "That's very kind of you to say." she responded, slightly blushing from all the attention.

"Well, how about we go and see how the teams turned out?" said Yang.

"Good idea" said AJ. So they headed off into the conference room where they would find out who they would have as teammates.

Fifteen minutes later

"Both of these duos have retrieved the white knight pieces," Announced professor Ozpin. "The courage you possess is something to be proud of. With that I present to you, Team ACAI, led by….. Aiden Barr. Congratulations, gentlemen." Applause followed as the four boys smiled at each other, all feeling like they now truly belonged at Beacon.

"Whoa, this is so cool!" said Isaac as they walked through the doorway into their dorm room for the first time.

"This is actually pretty nice." Andrew said.

"Its way nicer than our dorm back at signal." Collin pointed out.

"That's true," AJ said, "but who are the teams living next to us?"

"Let's hope they're not like our neighbors back at signal" Collin joked. "I sure hope they're not." Isaac replied. "Let's find out."

They all walked out and AJ knocked at the adjacent door. Five seconds later the door opened and Yang's head poked out. "Hellooooo!"

"Oh cool, I didn't think we would get you as neighbors!" AJ said enthusiastically.

"This isn't who I was expecting we would live next to." Collin admitted, slightly covering his face with his hand.

"I can still see your face, Colin."

"(sigh)"

"So we'll be living next to team RWBY." Andrew said. "That's cool."

"At least we've met before and kind of know each other." said Yang, opening up the rest of the door.

"Hey, how about we all go out for coffee or lunch together tomorrow, and we can, you know, get to know everyone better." Said Andrew.

"DID SOMEONE SAY COFEE?!" Nora yelled, slamming open the door on the other side of ACAI's dorm.

"Nora, please."

Rest of team JNPR and RWBY spilled out into the hallway, curious about what was happening.

"That sounds like a marvelous idea, because if I'm living next to you for the next four years I want to know a bit about you first." Weiss stated, overhearing the conversation beforehand.

"Are you suuuure you're not a rich brat?" Nora asked teasingly.

"No, I'm not!" Weiss sqeaked back defiantly.

"Ok, how about the cafe just down the hall from the gym?" Pyrrha suggested, "Around ten, does that work for you guys?"

"Sure does." Ruby and AJ said in unison.

"Alright then, we'll be there." Said AJ.

"Ok, uh, bye guys." Jaune said, joining and leaving the conversation at the same time.

"See you tomorrow!" said Yang.

That night, as the four teammates settled down into their new beds, they were all thinking the same thing: This was going to be a great semester.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"This is GREAT coffee," Andrew said as he sipped his mocha. All twelve students were visiting at the in-school café, either eating or drinking something. Nora, being Nora, had ordered the biggest, strongest cup of coffee the café offered, and was currently passed out on a couch in a drunken state. Ren calmly sat next to her, sipping some light tea. Blake was sitting in chair in one of the corners, reading a book and munching on a scone. The rest were all sitting around a round table, talking.

"So, we're all on our first year here?" Isaac asked, addressing the group. Everybody nodded.

"Cool."

Colin piped up. "What happened to you guys in the forest? I thought you guys could take that nevermore no problem!

"You're right, Colin, we should have EASILY vanquished the grimm," Weiss said, glaring at Ruby, who let out a nervous laugh.

"W-well, I had come up with cool idea where Weiss, sorta, shoots me into the grimm with her glyphs, and well, let's just say it didn't work," Ruby managed to work out, blushing like crazy. Pyrrha softly patted her shoulder.

"Well, I think Ruby's plan was brilliant," She said, making Ruby feel better.

"Anyway, what do guys think of the school so far?" Isaac asked, changing the subject. Nora instantly woke up and yelled "The pancake mix is subpar!" and fell asleep again without another word, causing the group to break out in giggles.

"I will be buying better quality mix after classes today." Ren stated, looking up from his tea. Yang groaned and put her head on the table.

"Yay. Classes. School. Learning. Sooooo fun." Yang said, causing Blake to look up from her book.

"Yang, learning is essential to our staying at this school. The more we learn, the better fighters we become." This caused Yang to groan even more.

"I have professor PORT first period."

"Oh." Blake looked back down at her book.

Ruby began to speak in a hushed tone. "Somebody at Signal last year told me that a kid actually DIED from boredom in one of his classes!"

"Ruby, that's preposterous." Weiss stated flatly.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad." Pyrrha stated logically. "But it's true!" Ruby exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table, causing a cup to tip and fall off, smashing on Yang's foot.

"Ouch!" Yang yelled, standing straight up out of her chair, eyes glowing red.

"Ooh, sorry sis!" Ruby apologized, cringing slightly.

Yang's fists clenched, and then unclenched. A couple seconds later, she sat down in her chair, breathing heavily, not noticing that the entire group had frozen in place, staring at her. Isaac's mouth was hanging open. Yang's eyes turned back to their original color as she suddenly noticed that nobody was moving.

"Guys, I'm fine! It's okay, Ruby," She said, looking at her sister. "What did you think I was going to do, Blow up the café?"

"Well, you did wreck a club a couple days ago."

"Wait, what was that?" Isaac asked suddenly.

"Oh, nothing! Don't worry about it," Yang responded quickly, "I…. just needed to find out something."

"But why did your eyes turn red?" Isaac asked again.

"It's her semblance!" said Ruby.

"Cool, what does it do?" Colin inquired.

"Well it makes me really aggressive and gives me extra strength and endurance." Yang responded.

"That must be really useful in combat" Isaac remarked.

"And you can create glyphs, right ice queen?" Andrew asked playfully.

Yang looked at Andrew. "Ice queen? That's actually pretty good. I might use that later."

"Yes I can, and don't call me that!" Weiss said defensively.

"Sure thing, snow angel."

"Ugh, you are just impossible."

"Yes, yes I am." he retorted.

What's your semblance Pyrrha?" Isaac asked.

"Well I don't really like to tell people. It's kind of a secret."

"Why don't you tell anyone?" asked Isaac.

"It's very subtle and I like to keep it that way." Pyrrha said.

"I totally understand," Collin chimed in, "there are lots of things that I don't want people to know about me."

"Like how you secretly have a huge crush on Yang?"

"Isaac, I will actually kill you."

Yang giggled to herself softly as everyone stared at Colin, who covered his face with hands, begging the gods to end it all. Isaac secretly high-fived Andrew from under the table as AJ patted Colin's shoulder in an attempt to make him feel better.

"So where did you guys go to school?" Pyrrha asked, changing the subject.

"We all went to Signal." AJ answered.

"I've heard it's a great school." Said Jaune.

"It is, but it's not even close to as good as this." Isaac said.

Why are you here, Jaune?" Collin asked.

"Well, I want to be like my father and grandfather, they protected remnant and I want to follow in their footsteps."

" Jaune, that's so cool!" Ruby said.

"And what about you, lady-killer?" asked Yang as she walked over to Collin and got right up in his face, looking him right in his eyes. "Why did you want to be a huntsman?"

(Why does she do this to me?) Colin thought to himself as he glanced down for just a second, then looked up quickly hoping she didn't notice. (Oh I really hope she didn't see that) he thought. "Uh, to, meet people like you guys? "gods, that sounded so dumb."

"You're right, it did." Yang teased him, getting out of his face.

"Well, it was nice getting to talk to you guys, but we should be going. We still have some unpacking to do." AJ announced suddenly, getting up from his chair.

"What are you guys gonna be doing?" Jaune inquired.

"After unpacking? We're probably going to go check out the gym."

"Yang Xiou Long, I challenge you to a game of "World of Remnant" at the library!" Ruby said suddenly yelled ferociously.

"You're on, Ruby!"

"Well, I guess we'll see you guys later." Isaac said cheerfully as they all got up from the table. Seeing the group start to leave, Blake got up and Ren quietly picked up the still sleeping Nora and carried her out the door. Everyone was walking out the door when Andrew whispered to Yang "I love how you're messing with Colin."

"Yeah, personally I find his reactions kinda cute."

As the embarrassed Colin was walking away from the café as fast as he could, Yang slyly called over to him "See you laaaaaater Colin!" causing to blush even harder.

"See what I mean?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I remember this morning very clearly. Colin had woken us all up to get dust before class. He seemed very anxious, and asked we hurry up. He said he used it all up in the Emerald Forest, but I think he just wanted to avoid an encounter with Yang. I still can't believe he screwed up THAT badly on the FIRST day. Anyway, I slowly moved the covers off me and sat up in my bed. I yawned, looking around our new dorm. It was just a standard one room living space, but it still seemed special to us. We had all worked very hard to get into Beacon, and this was the fruits of our labors. AJ was already up along with Colin, dressed and ready, being the leader, I guess. I was still a little miffed not getting the position of team leader. However though, in hindsight, I don't think I would have done a very good job. AJ was the most mature of our group, so I guess Ozpin made the right choice. I quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed my outfit, and ran into the bathroom. Andrew was still a little drowsy, so I ran by and smacked him and locked the bathroom door behind me, laughing like a hyena.

"Isaa-huh-WHAT THE HELL?!" Andrew yelled, springing up and grabbing his knives. The side where I smacked him was glowing white from his aura.

AJ tried to hold back laughter as he hissed at me through the door. "Knock it off Isaac!"

As least he was now awake. Fifteen minutes later, we were all dressed, armed, and ready. AJ closed the door behind us as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake up the two still sleeping teams next door. I've heard that a grumpy Yang and Nora is something to be feared. As we walked out into the cold morning air, I shivered and took a breath. White smoke drifted out of my mouth and into the open. The sun had not yet risen, and the temperature was still easily below thirty degrees. I looked around, observing my surroundings. If you took a couple seconds to take a look, Beacon truly was a massive place. Giant arches flanked the wide cobbled pathway leading to Vale, and the massive clock tower shot into the sky, the top hidden by fog. In the center of the academy, (near the dorms) there was a sizable statue of several huntsmen killing a grimm. "Pretty much sums up this school." I thought to myself. Vale was several miles away, so instead of walking we boarded a small early morning airship.

"Good morning huntsmen!" The pilot cheerfully called out to us as the bay doors opened. I stared at the old man for several seconds before Colin pushed me up the steps. I could've sworn I'd seen him before. Nah, it probably was nothing. We took a seat on one of the couches, not saying a word. After several seconds, I blurted out "Gosh, its sooo hot this morning. Am I right?" The other three chuckled at my joke; the early morning ice had been broken.

"Colin, why'd we have to wake up THIS early to get dust?" AJ asked, turning over to his brother.

"Uh, no reason, I just want to make a good impression today, and I'll need a lot of dust to fight well in class."

"You know we're not allowed to use dust in practice battles, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

Andrew and me grinned at each other. This was very entertaining, to say the least. Yang had really done a number on Colin, whose usual confident (and slightly psychotic) attitude had been replaced by an embarrassed, clumsy teenager. Heck, he hadn't squeezed my neck since the first day!

As we stepped down out of the airship, I took in the sight of the city of Vale. Sure, I had seen it before, but with the sun barely peeking over the horizon, It looked especially beautiful. The uncrowded sidewalks and roads amplified the scenery as well, with only a few people drifting around the town, probably heading to work. We found the dust shop easily after a couple of minutes of walking. It was a small building, with cases of different types of dust displayed behind the windows. I looked up at the store name. In big blue letters, it read "The Dusty Attic." Stupid name, but kinda catchy. A bell rang as AJ opened the door for us. I immediately walked past the counter and began to explore the aisles, looking for some magazines to read while Colin shopped. AJ and Andrew subconsciously followed my lead, trying to find something amusing as Colin walked over and faked interest in the different types of dust. I understood Colin not wanting to be around Yang, but right then I REALLY wanted to be in my bed as a wave of exhaustion hit me. The effort I exerted in the initiation was still affecting me. I walked up to the counter and whispered to Colin "Please hurry up. We're all super tired."

"Got it." Colin replied quickly, looking back down at the different types.

"Sooooo, should I get the blue dust or the red dust?" He asked me, changing the subject.

This was an easy question. "If comes down to a decision between red vs blue, always choose blue."

"But, each type has a different effe-"

"Doesn't matter. Now hurry up and buy it, I'm tired."

Colin nodded and cleared his throat, alerting the owner in the back behind the shop.

"Can I help you?" He asked, walking up to the counter. HOLD UP. Okay, I'd seen this guy before. I looked closely at the old man, slightly creeped out. I was just about to say something when the bell rang behind me. I heard footsteps walk into the store and felt a gun press into my head. Welp, just a normal day at Beacon Academy.

"Hands in the air, NOW."

I slowly raised my hands, looked over to my side, seeing Colin in a similar position. A man in a black and white outfit walked past me and pointed a gun at the owner. On the man's back was a red wolf with three slashes covering its face, all within a jagged red circle. It was the sign of a White Fang member! Just our luck to be caught in the middle of a White Fang terrorist attack. The man then quietly told the owner to give him the dust as another member came into the store with a huge black case. The member opened it up as the owner began to unwillingly load his stock into the case. The men had come in so quietly that AJ and Andrew still hadn't noticed the robbery, and were still peacefully reading magazines in the far corner of the shop. Suddenly, I heard another man walk into the store, the pace of the steps more relaxed and confident.

"Look, guys, I know we've had a busy week, but can we PLEASE pick up the pace over here?!" The man called out, annoyed. I recognized his voice instantly. Roman Torchwick, the most wanted criminal in Vale. What was he doing leading these White Fang members? Torchwick glanced at us uncaringly, and walked over to the counter, leaning in close to the frightened owners face.

"Do I look like I have time for you?" He asked the old man softly, yet dangerously. The old man slowly nodded "no." Roman suddenly whipped his arm back and smacked the man with his cane. "So HURRY UP!" the old man whimpered and began to load dust into the case as fast as he could. Anger flared up inside me as I resisted the urge to rush Torchwick. I looked over at Colin and nodded at him. He looked at me a couple seconds before understanding what I meant and nodded back. I slowly began to move my hand towards the hilt of my sword, trying my best not to look suspicious. Once most of the dust crystals were loaded into the case, the member snapped it shut and carried it out the door. Roman turned back to the owner and said cheerfully "I'd like to thank for every bit of your cooperation. Perhaps we can do more business soon?" with that, he hit the owner in the face with his cane again, knocking the poor man out instantly. Now you've done it. I grasped the hilt of my sword and swung it out of its sheath. Before anyone had time to react, I ducked and swung my legs around, knocking the legs of Faunus holding me up out from under him, causing him to trip and hit his head on the hard floor. One down. The member holding Colin up pointed his gun at me, and was promptly hit in the gut by Colin's elbow. He keeled over, which allowed me to quickly run over and hit his head with my hilt, knocking him out. Two down. Torchwick turned around to face us, looking at us like this has happened before.

"You know, you kids have been giving me a LOT of trouble lately." He said as he slowly lifted his cane at Colin. Before I knew what was happening, Roman pressed a button on his cane and a bolt of red dust shot out, hitting Colin in the chest. The shockwave from the dust threw me into wall and blasted Colin through the window, landing and skidding across the road. People on the sidewalks stopped in their tracks, pointing at Colin. One woman even pulled out her phone, probably to call the police. Colin slowly got up, his body flashing red. His aura had broken! I quickly jumped up and swung my sword at Torchwick, who easily parried my stroke with his cane.

"Look, kid, do you actually think you can kill me?"

"I have an idea, don't hurt my friends!" I yelled as I swung again and again. Torchwick laughed as he easily blocked all of my attacks. I was getting pissed, I couldn't even make a dent in him! Roman twirled around his cane expertly, showing his years of experience in that one fighting style. Trying something new, I opened up my blade and spun around; thrusting my sword into the air and locking his cane between my split blades. "I can't believe that actually worked!" I thought to myself happily. As I held him there, Torchwick smiled at me as if he knew something I didn't.

"You're quite the ambitious one, kid. Too bad you-" AJ ran by and body slammed him, knocking my sword away and throwing him through the broken window. Andrew ran by me and jumped through the window as well, pistols out and loaded. Following the group, I opened up and walked through the door. I had to give it to him; AJ had some really good timing. Roman rolled to a stop at Colin's feet, groaning from pain.

"Hello there."

"Hi."

Roman, not going down that easily, swung himself around and tripped Colin, knocking him to the ground. Grabbing his cane and standing up, he turned around to me and the other two, leaning over slightly from the pain.

"Now, I would love to stick around and finish you three off, but I best be going." Roman said arrogantly. And with that, he pointed his cane at the ground in front of us and fired. The three of us were thrown back into the store from the force of the blast. Dazed, I slowly grabbed a shelf and pulled myself up, trying to get oriented. Remembering, I turned and looked through the window. When the smoke cleared, Roman was nowhere to be seen. I looked around, confused. I could hear the sirens of police cars in the distance as people crowded around the shop, coming in and helping up the other two. The dust shop was wrecked, and I could see the owner lying on the ground, still unconscious. Glass and debris littered the road in front of us. I picked up my sword and put it back into my sheath, wishing I could've just slept in.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

We stumbled into our dorm several hours later, totally exhausted. I fell onto the covers of my bed, relishing the squishiness of the mattress. You know what? Screw classes, I'm taking a nap. I looked over and saw that AJ and Andrew were already asleep. Strongly, Colin had not entered the room yet, and was standing at the doorway, looking awful and not saying a word. The sight was so sad I just wanted to walk up and give him a big hug. Wait, now that I think of it, Colin hadn't said anything SINCE the dust shop. I guess I was too tired to notice. (sigh), I guess the nap must wait. I sat up in my bed and softly called over to him "Pssst, Colin, come here." Colin looked up and stared at me for several seconds before walking over and sitting next to me. "So….Colin. What's up?"

"I feel like an idiot." He replied. Instantly, I figured out the problem.

"Let me guess. You feel guilty about dragging us to the dust shop where we could've easily been killed?"

"EXACTLY!"

"Hey, we stopped a robbery at least!"

"They still got away with the dust."

"Look…. if you ask me, we easily had that handled. Don't beat yourself up about this one tiny thing." I said, trying to cheer him up.

"Isaac, we did NOT have that handled. We both would've gotten killed if it weren't for AJ." Colin yelled at me angrily, causing Andrew to groan and roll over. "I'm basically the stupid immature one of the group that causes all the problems."

"Dude, this was just ONE tim-"

"No it wasn't! What about Yang when we first arrived? What about all those screw-ups at Signal?" I was shocked at the sight of Colin snapping at me. He had never talked like this before. I glanced over to AJ, wishing for some help. Suddenly, I got an idea. I turned back around to Colin and said "This was Yang's fault! If she hadn't bothered you all those times, you wouldn't have wanted to go to the dust shop so early!" Colin stopped in the middle of a thought and looked at me with realization in his eyes. I inwardly patted myself on the back.

"You see? This wasn't your fault. Yang embarrassed you, so you wanted to leave early; so you could avoid her, right?" Colin's face began to lighten, but then quickly furrowed his brow again and turned away from me. I inwardly groaned, my attempt had been unsuccessful.

"You're just trying to make me feel better. Just back off and leave me alone."

Colin got up and walked away, leaving me sitting on the bed by myself. I fell back onto the covers and sighed to myself. That went well. NOT. I inwardly sighed to myself, trying to figure out how to solve the problem. AJ slowly got up and sat on his bed, staring at me with red, tired eyes.

"Wha-Isaac. What happened?"

"Colin happened."

Later, The Next Day

"Your turn, Ruby."

A massive game board was laid down on the table in front of me, with Yang on one side and Ruby on the other. I was busily observing both members armies and trying to figure what would be the best move for Ruby. Andrew was casually rifling through books somewhere else in the library, while everybody else was sitting at one big table and chatting away. Ruby scrunched up her forehead and rested her cheek on her right hand, staring at the game board.

"Yang Xiou Long, prepare your armies for batt-"

"Wait, Ruby." I stopped her midsentence, putting out my hand as I looked at Yang's armies carefully. I must say, she's clever, clever than Ruby. I leaned over to Ruby and whispered "She probably has a trap card. You should just take a card instead." I leaned back and grinned as Yang glared at me from her seat, knowing something was up. Ruby nodded and looked up at Yang.

"You know what, Yang? I think I'm just gonna take a card from the chance pile." Yang groaned as Ruby reached her arm out and grabbed a card. Ruby looked at it and smiled.

" 'Traitorous soldier!' Any trap cards you have are now TURNED against you. Do you have any trap cards, Yang?"

"Dang it Ruby! Screw you Isaac!" Yang yelled as she stood up and walked away, mumbling to herself something about punching walls. As she got up, Yang flipped up a card towards me. I turned it over and read the top: "Giant Nevermore Trap Card." I giggled to myself, knowing that Yang was now screwed. Ruby turned over to me, smiling from ear to ear. She mouthed a silent "thank you" and turned back to the board. I was going to say something, but suddenly a hand gripped my shoulder as Andrews voice whispered into my ear "We need to talk. NOW."

Andrew pulled me by the wrists to the far end of the library. He sat me down into a chair and pulled one up for himself.

"Andrew, why did you feel the need to drag me to the back of the library?"

"Where's Colin?"

I thought for a moment. I hadn't seen Colin since the morning before. I was sure he was fine. Still, I guess the others were getting worried. I had told all the teachers he was just sick, but I couldn't pull that off for long.

"AJ told me he you said something about Colin yesterday morning. What's going on?"

I sighed to myself and looked up at the ceiling. The dim library lights poured over my face as I pondered what my answer was. After a couple of seconds, I tilted my head back towards Andrew and said "Look, Colin felt guilty about putting us in danger yesterday. I tried to calm him down, but he stormed out of our room and I haven't seen him since. You guys slept through the whole thing." After a second, I also added "He wanted to avoid Yang that morning. He hated how she kept embarrassing him."

Andrew looked guilty for a second as he said "Actually, she WAS kind of funny. Yang, I mean."

"Andrew, that's the whole problem! It's not funny anymore at all."

"Colin CAN be kind of a crybaby sometimes, but he's been gone an entire day already. We need to find him." Andrew said, brushing off what I said.

However, I guess he was right, we DID need to find Colin. I just wanted to let him cool off for a while, but I guess that time was up now. (sigh), not a week in and we already have drama.

"Fine, let's get the others."

Later

Me, Andrew, and AJ, were sitting on the floor in our dorm, discussing one thing: Colin. I sat on the hard carpet with my back against my bed as I listened to AJ speak. I felt like I was in a conspiracy, discussing some secret plan. It was kind of fun, really.

"So, just to make this clear, none of you have heard or seen Colin AT ALL since yesterday?"

Both me and Andrew shook our heads in unison at AJ's question. He nodded his head at our answer and thought for a moment. The room became quiet as we both stared at our leader. By now, I was starting to become worried about Colin as well. We just got here. Where would Colin go?

AJ cleared his throat and asked "Would any of you know where Colin would have gone?"

Once again, we both shook our heads in unison to his question. AJ sighed and stood up, grabbing his weapon off his bed.

"Then we should start looking."

AJ was the last one out of the dorm. As he shut the door, he happened to glance down at the ground. On the floor at his feet was a small note. AJ picked it up and called out to the other two teammates "Hey, guys! Wait for me outside, I'll be right there!"

"Got it!"

He unfolded it and read the message. It said, "Everything you know is a lie. Crazy, right? Meet me at the fountain tomorrow night at eight. PLEASE don't be conspicuous. Signed, M. B."

AJ did a double take and read the message again. Then again. Then AGAIN. What the hell?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9The next morning, very early

"So, how long will your team be gone?"

"Probably a couple of days, sir." Andrew replied respectfully.

"I see." Ozpin said thoughtfully. After a couple of seconds, he slowly got up and walked over to the second "A" in "ACAI". Cogs groaned and turned above them, adding to the uneasy atmosphere.

"You're telling me, that you JUST want to help out in the Vytal Festival?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well, yes, sir."

"I see. What will you be doing again?"

"Unloading crates on the dock, sir."

Ozpin stroked his chin with his index finger. After several seconds, he turned to the student and said "Alright, you may go. But, you MUST catch up on any late assignments. Understood?"

Andrew smiled slightly. "Of course, sir."

He turned away, beginning to leave, but Ozpin raised his hand, silently asking him to stay. Andrew turned back to the professor, hoping Ozpin wasn't suspicious about anything.

"Flammini, before you go, I want to ask you something," He said with a serious look in his eyes. Andrew gulped, trying to act as innocent as possible. Ozpin suddenly made a mischievous grin. "When you find Colin, say hello for me, will you?"

Andrew's eyes widened. He had been found out. Ozpin just chuckled and waved his hand toward the door.

"Thank you for your time Andrew. You may go now."

Andrew slowly nodded and walked off. Once he heard the click of the door closing, Ozpin immediately frowned and grabbed his scroll off his desk. He punched several numbers and held it to his ear. Ringtone, then a clicking noise. A gravelly voice on the other end asked "Hello? Yes, Ozpin. What do you want now?"

"Any progress on the relics?"

"Gods, Ozpin. I'm working my ass off out here for you, the least I could get is a 'hello!'"

"PROGRESS?"

"None. Why do you even ask?"

Ozpin sighed angrily, audible to the man on the other end.

"Oz, what's the matter?"

"Nothing… Qrow. Goodbye."

He pressed a button on his scroll, ending the call. He threw the scroll back onto the desk and covered his face in his hands. So. Many. Potential. Threats.

Later

I twist my head left and right, looking down both ends of the hallway. It's brightly lit from above, so there are no places to hide. I look back at the note again. I read it again, carefully. My teammates are probably waiting outside the dorm impatiently. I bet Isaac is tapping his foot in annoyance, unaware of the world-shaking, life changing news in my hand. Chill, dude. I look carefully on the other side of the note. I….. Can't believe my eyes. Could M.B. be…..? No, that's stupid. Don't be childish, AJ, you're a leader now. She's been dead for years anyway. I start to rip the note, dismissing it as a morbid prank. My hands stop, though, refusing to tear. Still, was there something to this? The note says eight o'clock. Finally, I decide to go and see if anything would happen. But first: finding Colin. (sigh), I hope he's okay.

I tap my foot in annoyance as I wait outside the dorm with Andrew. What could AJ possibly be doing? Finally, he runs out of the entrance, feet suddenly clacking on the stone pathway. Andrew looks up from his scroll at the noise. Gods, I swear he never STOPS listening to music.

"Uh, sorry about that, anyway, where do we want to head out first?" He says, a little bit too quick to be normal. Did something happen in the dorms? AJ stops and looks at us, eager to get going. Andrew hops slightly, readjusting the pack of supplies on his back

"Look, guys, this thing's already heavy enough. Can we just leave?"

"It's not THAT heavy, Andrew."

"I don't see you holding anything."

"I'm the director of this operation, remember? AJ is the figurehead, you're the slave, and I'm the director!"

"I didn't agree to this."

AJ watched us go back and forth, happy that nobody was focusing on his lateness. After a couple seconds, he butted in, grabbed Andrews pack, and shoved it into my arms. Tall jerk. Why did everyone seem to hate directors? It seemed to be a common theme.

"You know what, let's start with Vale!" He says cheerily. Andrew agrees and I nod grudgingly. Once again, we take another airship into Vale. The three of us squeeze into a row, with me on the outside. I put my arms over the heavy pack, keeping it from falling. The small ship is more crowded this time. I look at a clock on one of the walls. It's almost nine. Not rush hour, but still crowded. Andrew stared absentmindedly out the window, humming along to some song. However, He seemed preoccupied with something, and just seemed to be subconsciously doing what he always did. AJ kept nervously fidgeting with something in his pocket. I gave AJ a weird look, silently asking what was going on. He just looked away, averting my gaze. Seriously, what had happened in there? What was bothering them? I made a mental note to find out the first moment I could. During the ride, I tried to think of various places Colin could be. The only places I could come up with were Beacon and Vale, sadly. Both places are quite big.

The doors opened and we spilled out along with the other passengers. For the second time in a week, we were in Vale. Let's hope no robberies happen this time. AJ squints his eyes in the bright morning sun and looks around, hoping to find Colin as quick as possible. Seriously, he seemed really impatient about something. What was in his pocket?

"Ozpin knew about Colin."

I turned to Andrew, thrown off guard by the abrupt statement. AJ's head tilted towards Andrew, his eyebrow slightly raised.

"Wait, what? How?!"

"Isaac, AJ, I'll be perfectly honest with you, Ozpin gives me the creeps. I have no idea how he knew what we planned. (sigh), ever since arrived at Beacon, something didn't seem right about him."

I was taken aback by Andrew's worried tone. Usually, he was the most nonchalant person of the group. Ozpin knowing WAS kinda weird, but, someone must've just overheard us,right? Besides, I trust our headmaster. He DID let us actually search anyway.

"Chill, Andrew." AJ said without stopping his stride. "Right now, we need to find my brother. If Ozpin let us go anyway, we're fine. Let's just try to do this quickly."

Andrew looked over to me with questioning look. I just shrugged my shoulders. After we found Colin, I would be sure to have a talk with all three of my teammates. After several minutes, the airstrip finally ended and we walked under a sign that read "Welcome to Vale!" Gravel and suburbs slowly lead to sidewalks and large shops. We never discussed where to go so for a while we just wandered around, occasionally calling out Colin's name. AJ seemed almost like a robot, not really caring about his brother. Interestingly, it seemed like roles had been reversed from the day before. What was I thinking? After several hours of fruitless searching, I was seriously worried about Colin's safety. He hadn't unlocked his semblance yet, and neither had AJ or Andrew. Me however…. I'm saving my surprise for later. Let's just say, in any other world, you'd need a full blown AI to run what I have. Still, if Colin's hurt, I don't what we would do. What AJ would do, No matter how distracted he was. I laid my hands on both my friend's shoulders and said "Hey guys? Let's hurry up the pace."

Mountain Glen, many years ago

"The Council members are fools, Dianne. We need to leave, NOW!"

The man yelled at his wife while their three children watched from the dining table, plates of uneaten food in front of all of them. Dianne grew angry at her husband's outburst. A normal conversation had quickly turned into a nasty argument.

"I trust the council for our safety, why would they just let us die in a cave?!" she retorted. A young girl patted the shoulder of an even younger AJ. Colin just watched in fascination.

"The grimm attacks just won't stop, Dianne! Think of the kid's safety! I've already packed the provisions for the trip to Vale, if we-"

"No! They wouldn't be able to travel that far, and the grimm would tear us apart the moment we stepped outside the boundaries."

AJ lip quivered in fear at what they spoke about. What were grimm? They acted as if "grimm" would kill them. Even the young girl seemed concerned after listening. AJ's dad sighed and held a hand to his forehead.

"It's just, this whole project was doomed from the start, and it's only a matter of time before something horrible happens. I mean, look at this place," He said, waving his hand around towards the rest of the house. "This place is too small and dirty anyways! We'll lose nothing by leaving!"

His mom was about to say something in reply, but a cry from outside turned their attention to the door.

"Grimm attack!"

Dianne's face turned white. She whirled toward her children and yelled "Kids, get in the basement!" The trio immediately obeyed and jumped from their seats, knocking over a plate to the ground. It smashed to the ground, splitting into jagged shards. Their dad ran to a rack on the wall and grabbed an old sword with both hands. Before their mom could say anything, he slammed open the door and yelled "Keep the kids safe!" and ran into the night, joining several other men outside the house. The three kids flew down the stairs and huddled into a corner in the dark basement, all oblivious and scared to what was going on. All they knew was that something was trying to hurt them. Their mom soon joined them, running down the stairs and bolting the door behind her. They couldn't see, but in her hands was the biggest kitchen knife she could find. A tear ran down AJ's cheek.

"M-Mommy, I'm scared."

"It's okay Aiden, just try to think about something else." She said, standing in front of the door and holding the knife out like a sword. No matter what, she wasn't going to let any of her children get hurt. AJ held his older sister tighter, savoring the warmth and comfort. The lights were off, and the only thing he could hear was the sound of their breathing and the noises outside. Thinking about something else was useless with the shouts and screams of men outside. He could hear howling and swords clashing, scaring him even more. What was out there? Where was daddy? Several gunshots rang through the air, followed by a blood-curdling howl. After what seemed like hours, the noise just suddenly stopped. No more swords. No feet clacking on stone roads. No human sounds. The girl pulled them closer. After several more minutes , the mom walked over and knelt by them, saying "Children, I'm going back up. You need to stay RIGHT HERE. Understand?"

The two oldest nodded. Colin had fallen asleep, and was curled up in the girl's lap. AJ had never envied his brother so much in his entire short life. Their mom then turned to the girl and said "Meghan, I'm going to need you to take care of Colin for me while I'm gone." She then glanced at AJ and knelt in closer, whispering something into Meghan's ear. The girl whimpered, trying hard not to cry at what her mom said. Dianne hugged both of them and stood up, brandishing the knife in her hand. After unbolting the basement door, she glanced back at her children one last time before heading up the stairs. The kids became dead quiet, listening to the sounds of their mom. AJ could hear the ceiling groan above him. His mom had made it up the stairs. He turned to his sister and whispered "Will she bring back daddy?" Meghan thought for a second, and opened her mouth to answer when the sounds of a crash and splintering wood interrupted. The kid's blood went cold when a demonic howl rang throughout the house. The sounds of a horrific scuffle and screams filled their ears. After several seconds, they heard a final gurgling sound and something small and metal clanged on the ground, followed by the heavy thump of a person collapsing onto the floor. The kitchen knife…..and….and mom. AJ was too scared to cry, and all he could do was listen to the thing above him. This was followed by the sounds of flesh being torn off and eaten along with satisfied growls. A drop of liquid slipped through a crack in the ceiling and splashed onto AJ's hand. He looked down at his hand, not being able to tell the color of it because of the darkness. So he slowly raised his shaking hand to his mouth and licked it. That was a mistake. The strong irony taste of blood filled his taste buds as a massive wave of nausea hit him. He jumped up, startling Meghan, only to fall to his knees and vomit onto the stone floor. Tears streamed down his face as he knelt there, the sounds of his crying filling the room. Meghan quickly put Colin on the floor and jumped up, clapping a hand over his mouth and pulling him back into the corner. He didn't care. All he could think about was his mom, and the thing above him, tearing her lifeless flesh off and eating it without a care in the world. He softly cried into Meghan's hand, tears spilling onto her fingers. Meghan needed away to comfort her brother (and herself), but it only got worse. The thing had heard AJ's cries and was scuffling towards the stairs. Its heavy paws crunched on the broken plate, signaling that it was getting closer. Meghan raised her other hand to her mouth, holding in a scream as it slowly moved down the stairs. The paws slapped on the stone as it got closer to the door. Soon it reached the barrier, and was scratching its claws on the wood. They heard a growl as the scratching became fiercer. The door shook as the thing hungrily tried to get to its next victim. Suddenly, something else lunged through the front door, and human steps flew down the stairs as the wood finally began to splinter. A quick slashing sound could be heard as the thing behind the door cried out in pain. It fell to the ground, and the door smashed open. AJ couldn't handle the fear anymore, and passed out into Meghan's arms. A man jumped in, a torch in one hand, and a giant broadsword in the other. He ran over to the trio and knelt before them. A gravelly voice asked "You kids alright?"

Meghan slowly nodded.

"Good, now come with me, we need to leave." He slung the two boys onto his shoulders and handed the torch to Meghan. In a serious tone he turned to her and asked "What's your name?"

"M-Meghan, sir."

"Just call me Qrow, Meghan. Now, I'm going to ask you to close your eyes until we get outside, It's a little messy upstairs. Hold my hand."

She latched onto his sword less hand and squeezed down hard. He nodded and led her up the stairs. She squeezed her eyes shut as they walked through the house, her shoes splashing on something wet. Once she felt the outdoor air on her face, Meghan and opened her eyes and looked around. Buildings were broken and burning, and broken weapons and abandoned cars littered the roads. She turned to Qrow and asked "What happened to mom and dad?" Qrow sighed and lowered his head. Meghan already knew the answer, but still hoped she was wrong.

"They…. didn't survive the grimm, Meghan. I'm sorry."

Meghan froze. She…she was right. She let go of his hand and fell to the ground, screaming as loud as she could. The torch fell out of her hand onto the stone, sputtering and finally dying. Qrow reached out to comfort her, but she smacked his hand away and screamed at him.

"Look, Meghan, we need to leave, right now! Do you WANT to be killed?"

"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!"

A growl sounded right behind her as a pack of ursai rounded a house. Their red eyes glowed as they licked their lips at the sight of the four humans. Qrow glanced at the crying girl, then back up at the grimm. Qrow saw the problem he was in.

"Meghan, please. We need to go NOW. If you don't move now, the grimm RIGHT BEHIND YOU WILL KILL YOU. "

She glanced behind her and saw the grimm. She turned back to Qrow with tear filled eyes.

"Then let them kill me."

Qrow couldn't lean down to grab her because of the boys, and he had to protect THEM too. He had no choice then. Qrow looked down to the girl one last time and nodded. He adjusted the two sleeping boys on his shoulders and turned around, running off into the forest beyond the houses. He made a silent prayer that the gods would protect her.

When AJ came to, he looked around slowly and saw that a strange man was carrying him through the forest. Colin was on the other shoulder as the man sprinted through the woods on a long overgrown path. Old trees flew past as he slowly woke up. The man carrying him panted with exhaustion. Faraway howls quickly reminded him of what happened. AJ was about to cry again when he realized Meghan wasn't with them. After a while, the man slowed down and laid the two on a soft patch of grass. He immediately fell to his knees. The man had obviously been running a long time. AJ got up from where he had been placed and crawled over to him.

"S-sir, where's my sister?"

After a second of catching his breath, Qrow turned to the boy and answered "She's with your parents."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

We had been walking for hours with no luck. The sun had long since disappeared behind the tallest buildings, and the sky was a deep purple mixed with orange. The three of us were taking a break on one of the city benches, all aching from the walking. AJ, however, seemed full of energy, and kept glancing down at his watch. Andrew sat directly next to me, and was fiddling with his scroll. I just sat there, staring at the concrete sidewalk and waiting for one of them to say something. Finally, Andrew lifted up his head and said "We should call the police."

"That's a horrible idea," I replied. "Ozpin trusted us with his mission, we will find him. If he's captured or anything, that would endanger him even more."

"Gods, Isaac, it's been TWO days since we last saw him! Besides, I don't trust Ozpin very much."

"I think you're overreacting."

Andrew stood up, obviously angry. "I don't often care about what Colin does, but he's the least experienced of our team, and where would he go anyway?! "

"This wouldn't have happened if Yang hadn't bothered Colin; something YOU just thought was funny!"

"You thought it was funny too."

"….No I didn't."

"Look, let's just try one more street, and then let's at LEAST try something else."

I sighed. He was right. Just wandering around wasn't working. Calling the police wasn't the right solution either, though.

Something that bothered me however was that AJ: Colin's BROTHER, was the least involved of our group. Whatever was going on, it had to be because of the thing in his pocket. Even though, that came second. We HAD to find Colin. I stood up and pulled my scroll out of my pocket. I turned it on and the time said "seven thirty." Several seconds later, AJ looked at his watch again, eyes widening. He sprung up and ran past us back towards the airstrip. As he ran he called back "Something important came up!" Me and Andrew both turned to each other, both looking for answers.

"The heck…"

"Lets…. try that last street you mentioned."

I'm forever glad we chose to look at one last street. Halfway down, we saw yellow tape surrounding a dust shop. The glass was broken, and debris littered the ground around it. The shop had obviously been robbed. Two men in white collared shirts stood outside the building, both talking into scrolls. Our relaxed stroll morphed into a sprint as we ran up to the scene of crime.

"What happened here?" I asked the men. One of the men got off his scroll and turned to me.

"What's it look like, kid? White Fang robbery last night. And a kidnapping, according to one witness."

I looked at Andrew. He turned to the other man and asked "Hey Monty, what that one witness say again?"

"Oh yeah, her." The other guy said nonchalantly. "A stupid kid tried to stop them and got himself captured."

Andrew spoke up. "What direction did they go? What did the kid look like?"

"Geez, kid, one question at a time." The man said, "We don't know where they went, but that witness also said the kid had…hey Monty?"

"What?"

"What'd that witness say the kid looked like?"

"Why do these kids want to know anyway?" He said, waving his hand towards us. I quickly pulled my sword from its sheath and split the blade. "Monty" looked down at my weapon.

"Ah yes, I see," He said nervously. "The girl said the kid was short, had brown hair and was carrying a giant glaive."

I looked at Andrew again. That HAD to be Colin. He nodded and I turned back to the two men.

"Thanks for the help." I said, sheathing my weapon. Monty grunted and pulled out his scroll. The other man soon followed. Knowing that was the only answer I'd get, I turned around and began to run back up the sidewalk. Andrew followed, and was about to say something when Monty called back "One more thing! That girl also said something about the White Fang heading towards the docks!"

I called back "Thanks!"

As Monty watched us leave, he turned to his partner and said "Hey."

"What?" The man asked back.

"You know what I'm thinking?"

"What?"

"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

I sprinted back up the sidewalk, aiming to head to the docks right away. Colin could've been in serious trouble and we needed to rescue him. Torchwick would definitely remember the incident at the dust shop. However, rounding a corner, I smacked headfirst into a familiar large-chested person. I flew backwards onto my back, my head spinning. Andrew caught up as I tried to stop the road from spinning. Yang groaned and slowly got up from the ground. As the stars cleared, I could see Ruby, Weiss, and… someone else behind Yang. A ginger-haired girl held her hands to her mouth in shock. The other two looked just as surprised. I stood up and held a hand to my head.

"Ugh, you alright Yang?" I asked. Yang rubbed a bump on her forehead and replied "Wow, uh, weird to be running into YOU right now."

"Isaac! Andrew! …..What are you guys doing here?" Ruby asked, getting over her shock.

"Looking for Colin." Andrew replied, glaring at Yang.

"What did I do?"

"Wow, what a coincidence!" Ruby said, "We're looking for someone too!"

"Who?" I asked.

"Blake," Yang answered, "But, seriously, what did I do?"

Andrew pulled her aside while I stayed with the others.

"Ok, seriously," I said quickly, turning to the others. "I may not know you all that well yet, but Colin could be in serious danger right now."

Ruby thought for a moment. After a second, she turned back to me and smiled.

"Sure we'll help. Do you…..know where Colin is?

"We think he's at the docks." I said, pointing towards the waterfront.

"Wait, are we just going to completely abandon Blake?" Weiss pointed out. The ginger still remained silent, listening to the conversation.

"Weiss, Blake will have to wait." Ruby replied. "She can take care of herself."

"…Fine."

Ruby called Andrew and Yang back over and explained everything to them. Everything was settled, but just to make sure, I asked "Is everyone prepared for a possible fight?"

Everyone nodded, except the ginger.

"I'm combat ready!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Oops, sorry about that," Ruby spoke up, "this is Penny. We just met."

"Nice to meet you, Penny. I'm Isaac."

"Salutations, Isaac!" She exclaimed happily. "I'll be sure to store that name in my database!"

Everyone froze. Penny looked around, confused about why everyone was staring at her. Realizing the mistake, she held a hand to her mouth in embarrassment and quickly said "I, uh, mean that I'll be sure to remember!"

"…OK, anyway, TO THE DOCKS!" Ruby yelled out, leading the charge. We all followed suit, Yang walking up to me and whispering "Remind me to have a talk with Colin when we find him."

"Will do." I answered.

"This is going to be SO much fun!" Penny yelled out. "I've never been on a rescue mission before!"

"Yeah, and let's hope it never happens again." Andrew replied flatly.

AJ sat nervously on the edge of the fountain. The sun had long since set, and the sky was now a deep blue color. Lights dotted the dorm building, everyone slowly settling in to rest. However, sleep was the last thing in AJ's mind. Yes, he was worried about Colin, but that would have to wait. He pulled out the note again and read it completely, from top to bottom. He glanced around, looking to see if anyone was there. But no, the area was completely empty. A cold breeze ruffled his clothing, causing him to shiver. He looked down and checked his watch for the millionth time that day. It was eight now. A small fizzling sound behind him caused AJ to stand up in shock. The sound quickly grew to a loud electric sizzling sound. He grabbed his rifle off his back and held it out in front of him. Suddenly, a loud popping sound and a blast of light blinded AJ and threw him to the ground. Even though his eyes were open, all AJ could see was white. He groped his rifle lying next to him, but a boot smacked it away.

"Shooting me would be quite rude, Aiden." A female voice said.

"Who are you?!" AJ called out, his eyes slowly returning to normal.

"Use your eyes and see for yourself." She replied. AJ slowly stood up, using his hands to balance himself. He whirled around, looking for the girl that had blinded him. His eyes settled on a dark hooded figure.

"H-how do you know my name?" He asked, squinting his eyes. The hooded girl laid her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Wow, you really ARE dense."

AJ grabbed his rifle off the ground and pointed it at her. Time to just cut to the chase.

"Are you my sister, or not? Yes or no?"

The girl sighed again. After several seconds, she shook her head and lifted off her hood. Standing before AJ was a brown-haired, teenage girl. His sister. The rifle fell to the ground again. Knowing that he was right didn't make it any less shocking. Before Meghan had any time to react, AJ ran forward and tackled her in a hug.

"HOW DID YOU SURVIVE?!" he said, half talking, half sobbing into her shoulder. Meghan was trying to hold back tears as well, seeing her brother so happy to see her again. After several seconds, she finally managed to pry him off of her.

"It's good to see you too." She said smiling. AJ wiped his nose with his hand, grinning from ear to ear.

"H-how did you survive the grimm?"

"Well," She said, a mischievous look forming on her face. She quickly glanced around. Seeing no one, she turned back to AJ and said "I'll show you. Grab my hand." She stuck her hand out towards AJ's chest, waiting. AJ's grin turned into a suspicious squint.

"Wait, I'm happy to see you and all, but why your hand?"

"Just do it!" She hissed. "It won't work otherwise."

AJ slowly reached out and grabbed her hand. As soon as their palms touched, Meghan squeezed down hard.

"Wait, what won't work?" He said suddenly. Meghan didn't answer. She just shut her eyes and squeezed down harder. The pain of her grasp was nothing compared to what happened next. Another loud popping sound blinded AJ, and immediately he felt himself losing his stomach. A rushing sound filled his ears, and he couldn't feel his boots touching the stone anymore. All he could feel was the firm grasp of Meghan's hand.

"Hold on, we're almost there."

Several seconds later, another pop sounded and AJ was thrown onto a carpeted floor. He rubbed his eyes with the free hand to get rid of the whiteness.

"Meghan, stop doing that!"

"Look, I'm sorry, ok?" She said, letting go of his hand. "It's kind of part of my semblance."

"Oh, I see," AJ said, suddenly getting mad. "I haven't seen you in ten some years, and SUDDENLY, I find out you HAVEN'T been killed by grimm. On top of that, when you DO finally see me, you don't tell me anything and throw me around with your STUPID semblan-"

AJ's rant was interrupted by Meghan throwing her arms around him.

"I love you," She said softly, "But you didn't give me time to explain. What I'm going to tell you, is kind of shocking, and ties in with my semblance. Do you know where we are?"

Meghan let go, allowing AJ to look around. Just now, he finally noticed his surroundings. They were in a small bedroom, with a computer on a desk behind them. AJ noted that it was very basic compared to the ones at Beacon. A bed was in one corner, and posters littered the walls. It just seemed like a typical teenage girl's room. However, none of the bands in the posters seemed familiar to him. He turned back to Meghan and asked "Is this your room? If it is, w-where are we?"

Meghan sighed. "Well, that's the shocking part. This IS my room, but it's not in Remnant."

AJ was silent. Meghan continued, slowly and carefully.

"We're ACTUALLY in….. a place called earth. My semblance…is allowing me to travel between both worlds."

AJ fell to the carpet, mind blown. Multiple worlds?!

"Is that why," He began. "Is that why I haven't seen you in so long?"

Meghan nodded. "I discovered my semblance right before the grimm killed me. I think it was because of all the grief, because….of mom."

She lowered her head in sadness, but then raised it up again just as fast. "But hey, at least my dorky brother is still alive!" she said happily.

"How come you didn't visit me sooner?" He asked in a serious tone, causing Meghan to grin.

"Oh, actually, I've been visiting you a LOT, whenever I get the time to in fact. You have to understand, I lead a whole other life in this world after all. You don't see me, but I check up on you every so often, just to make sure you're safe. A couple years ago, you wouldn't have been able to process all this stuff I'm telling you, and I STILL haven't told you everything. I hope that's the answer you wanted."

It was more than enough, even though he still had plenty of more questions. He especially wanted to know more about the stuff Meghan wasn't telling him. However that wasn't the time, as a very important problem re-entered his mind.

"Colin!" He blurted out. Meghan looked up in surprise.

"What about him?"

The smoke of an explosion rose into the air above the teams. They could hear shouting and gunfire too.

"Oh no." Ruby whispered to herself. The group sped up. When they reached the docks, it was already a mess. Three small airships had landed, and White Fang members littered the ground. Blake and Sun were dueling with Roman, and he seemed to be winning. Ruby whipped out her scythe and ran towards the fight. Andrew whipped out his knives, Weiss cocked her rapier, Yang transformed her gauntlets, and Penny's backpack split, causing several identical swords to fly out and float in the air. Impressive as that was, I was on a rescue mission.

"Distract Roman!" I yelled out. "I'll search the ships for Colin!"

The others nodded. As we neared the scene, the remaining White Fang members charged us, happy to leave Blake and Sun. I almost felt bad for them. I quickly split off and snuck behind some Schnee cargo boxes. I could hear the ensuing battle as I snuck from container to container, and from the sound of it, it wasn't pretty. Shouts and screams filled the air as I finally reached the ships. I quickly jumped inside and snuck past the pilot, who was busy with something on the dashboard. I opened the door to the cargo hold and stepped inside. It was completely empty. I sighed and turned to reopen the door, but the sound of heavy gunfire stopped me in my tracks. Several seconds later, I heard a metallic twanging sound followed by a huge splash. Something BIG had landed in the water. Somebody jumped into the ship and yelled "Get us out of here!"

It was Roman. The ship groaned as we lifted off the ground. I was stuck. The engines roared as we flew away from the docks. I groaned, but then perked up. Roman would lead me to Colin! I knelt on the steel floor, hand on my sword hilt. After several minutes, the roar of the engines quieted down as we began to land. I shifted, nervous beyond belief. The room shook as we touched down. Finally, the ship doors opened and Roman jumped out. He grumbled to himself as he threw open a door and walked into the warehouse. He bent his cane in his hands as he stormed past confused White Fang guards. Anxious members looked over a catwalk surrounding the giant room. He walked over to a table with a map tacked on. Laying his hands on the table, Roman sighed to himself and then called out to his guards.

"Contact Cinder, NOW." He yelled angrily. A member on the catwalk nodded and pulled out a scroll. I slowly opened the cargo door and peaked my head out of the ship and watched. The door was still open, allowing me to hear. Suddenly, Roman smiled as he turned to a stuffed garbage bag on the ground. My blood went cold. He began to chuckle as he knelt down and tore off part of the bag, revealing the face of Colin. He didn't look so good. Bruises covered his face and he looked only semi-conscious.

"I thought today was going badly," He said with an insane glint his eyes. "But some dinner entertainment might cheer me up." Roman spun his cane on his index finger expertly. He suddenly raised the cane up to strike when I decided to act. I pulled out my sword, knocked out the airship pilot with the hilt, and jumped out of the door. Running across the landing pad and into the warehouse, I swung my sword up and split the blade, aiming at Colin. A blast from the barrel slashed a gap in the bag, barely missing my teammate. Before anyone could react, I fired a blast at my feet, propelling me onto the wall above the door and allowing me to run up it. Before I lost momentum or hit the catwalk, I pushed my legs with all the strength I could muster and backflipped off. Miraculously, I flew across the room and landed right next to Colin, kicking Roman in the face, launching him into the table. I ripped the bag off Colin and hoisted him onto my shoulders, running towards the airship. The members began to fire at me, so I spun my sword in a circle, trying my best to deflect the bullets. Right before I reached the ship, a red bolt of dust flew past me, blowing up our ride home. The shockwave knocked Colin off my shoulder and threw me to the ground. Slowly, I regained my senses and stood up, wondering where the blast came from. Roman was lying on the broken remains of the table, knocked out. On the catwalk was a shirtless White Fang captain with a huge shotgun. He cocked it and grinned at me. Armed members poured out of a door behind the catwalk, spreading out along the length of it. I was completely surrounded.

"Out of the frying pan, into the fire." I whispered. Apparently, this was how I was going to die. Gunned down by 100+ White Fang members. I spun my sword, ready for a last stand.

"Attention asshole!" The captain yelled. "Stand down, you're surrounded! Give us what you stole and no one gets hurt! Otherwise we will not hesitate to open fire, so give us the damn pris-"

At that moment, a dark figure wearing a grimm mask jumped out of the shadows and kicked the captain aside, causing chaos. I just stood in shock as the figure began to take down the members one by one. It grabbed the captain's gun and shot down all the catwalk supports, causing the whole thing to collapse. Members were thrown to the ground all around me. The figure jumped to the ground and ran past me, attacking the first member it saw. Suddenly, a second figure jumped down from a hiding place as well and slung a rifle off his back. Was that…..? The second figure stopped and fired, a bullet whizzing by my head and hitting a member sneaking up behind me. Breaking out my shock, I jumped into the fray as well. Within minutes, every member we could find had been downed. I walked up to the two figures surveying the damage.

"Who are you?" I asked curiously. The second figure pulled off his mask, revealing himself to be AJ. My mouth dropped open. Where did he go? Who was the other person? How did he know where I was? So many questions filled my head.

"You saved my life." Was all I said. AJ smiled.

"I couldn't've done it without my sister." He said, gesturing to his partner. For the second time that night, my mouth dropped open. The other figure pulled off her mask, revealing a brown haired, teenage girl. Seems legit.

"We have a lot to talk about." I said, speaking to both AJ and his sister. AJ nodded, smiling. However, the sound of a landing airship outside brought us all back to reality. A sinister clacking of glass against concrete sent a chill up my spine. The half open door was suddenly blown open in a shower of fire and glass. The scariest version of Cinderella I have ever seen slowly walked through the flames, hips swaying in a relaxed gait. Sister's eyes grew narrow at the sight of her. Stopping, the woman looked around her, noticing the downed guards, and then turning her attention to us.

"What are you little brats doing in my hideout?" She asked dangerously.

"Cinder." Sister seethed. For some reason, She REALLY hated "Cinder."

All of the sudden, police sirens sounded in the distance, quickly getting louder. However, Cinder only smiled. Looking past us, she said "Oh, Roman, It's SO nice of you to drop by."

We whirled around, just in time to see a bolt from Roman's cane hit the ground next to us. A bolt of bright red light assaulted my eyes and a shockwave threw me into a wall. I fell to the ground, numb from the explosion. Through the ringing in my ears, I could make out the sound of the airship lifting off. As my senses returned, I managed to stand up and balance against the wall. A black crater had dented the floor. I looked down to see my aura finally flickering out. Several feet away, Colin groaned and finally began to wake up. I stumbled over and knelt next to my friend, stroking his shoulder.

"You alright, buddy?" I asked quietly. Colin groaned again as his eyes flickered open. After several seconds, he whispered "...I….It's,"

"It's what, Colin?"

"…..It's…..It's,"

"What?"

"It's free real estate."

I don't know if was the stress of what just happened or if it was Colin's joke, but I immediately fell over, laughing like a hyena. It was good to have him back. "I love you buddy." I said happily. "Please don't run off like that again." Colin nodded. I grabbed his shoulders and leaned him up against the wall.

"We don't think you're just the stupid one of the team," I said seriously. "You're just as valuable as any of us. Hell, why do you think we went on a huge rescue mission to save you from Roman? Just, don't run off like that again, PLEASE."

Colin nodded again, tears in his eyes. When I finished, he quickly leaned forward and we embraced in a hug. After several seconds, I let go and helped him up. We didn't have peace for long, though. I had forgotten about the sirens, and Ruby along with the others burst through the wrecked door, followed closely by policemen. She ran up and tackled me in a massive bear hug.

"Isaac! I'm so happy you're alive!" She squealed. Yeah….. I am too.


End file.
